JUNE 2009 / NUMBER 513

A Fighting Chance
Alfredo Corchado
The author discusses the challenges American and Mexican leaders face as they combat the brutal Mexican cartels that supply drugs to users in the United States.

The Rise of ‘Talqaeda’
Adnan R. Khan
The author examines the Taliban’s growing political influence in Pakistan alongside its increasing militancy in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Ethics of Counterinsurgency
Keith Pavlischek
The author considers what measures, if any, can make it possible to fight guerrillas both effectively and in a moral way.

The Only Way to Prevent Genocide
Tod Lindberg
The author emphasizes the importance of Western nations’ engagement and preemptive diplomatic action in preventing genocide.

Dear Mr. President . . . On Good and Evil
P. J. O’Rourke
The author directs probing questions to President Obama on the nature of good and evil, both natural and moral, in the world.

China Faces a Grad Glut after Boom at Colleges
Ian Johnson
The author questions the value of China’s rapidly expanding institutions of higher education based on graduates’ lack of skills and difficulty in finding employment.

Help, My Degree Is Underwater
Emily Bazelon
The author questions the value of advanced undergraduate and graduate degrees for debt-strapped students in a recession economy.

10 Things You Didn’t Know about Somali Pirates
David Axe
The author analyzes the motivation and actions of Somali pirates to explain why they are such a persistent problem.

Drunken Nation: Russia’s Depopulation Bomb
Nicholas Eberstadt
The author examines the potentially dire social and economic effects of the declining health of the Russian population.